The present invention is directed generally to interconnection systems for otherwise incompatible audio communication networks, and more particularly to a portable interconnection system for such audio communication networks convenient for use by for police, fire, and other emergency services.
Within a given geographic area, it is common for the various police, sheriff, fire, and other emergency services to each have independent audio communication networks. Within such audio communication networks, the various personnel typically have portable audio communications devices, such as two-way radios, that handle the communication of audio signals with one or more dispatch centers. Thus, the various personnel within one particular emergency service are able to talk with others in their emergence service over their dedicated audio communication network. However, these audio communication networks are typically not able to communicate with the audio communication networks of the other emergency services. For example, the city police may be able to have talk directly with other city police, but cannot talk directly with the county constables, the city fire department, or the local hazardous material response team. Of course, the various emergency services can, if necessary, resort to using the public switched telephone network to call and talk with each other, but such an arrangement leads to obvious time delays and increases the likelihood of miscommunications. Thus, the ability of the combined emergency services to coordinate a response to various emergencies, particularly large scale emergencies, is hindered by the lack of easy audio communications.
In view of the above, some interconnect products for audio communication networks have been introduced with an eye toward emergency services. In particular, JPS Communications, Inc. of Raleigh, N.C. offers an interconnection product sold under the brand name ACU-1000. The ACU-1000 interconnection product allows two or more audio communication networks to be interconnected so that personnel in one audio communication network may talk with personnel in the other audio communication network. While such a product has greatly increased the ability of emergency services personnel to talk during emergencies, by allowing for interconnection of their otherwise independent and incompatible audio communication networks, there is a certain level of advance work and planning that must be completed before the benefits can be realized. For instance, for the ACU-1000 product, each of the relevant audio communication networks must be linked to the ACU-1000 hub, which resides in a relatively large computer rack at a fixed location. As such, the ability of the ACU-1000 product to adapt to some types of changing needs, or to be set-up for interconnection with a new audio communication network (e.g., belonging to a new emergency service), is somewhat limited by its size. For example, if a large-scale emergency occurs near the boundary of a jurisdiction, multiple emergency services of each type (e.g., police, fire, etc.) may need to respond to the same event. Absent significant planning effort and advance work, it is likely that some of the emergency services at the emergency site may be interconnected for audio communications using the ACU-1000, but others will unable to do so. Such a situation is less than ideal. Further, the ACU-1000 requires a separate personal computer with a CRT display to be attached to its controller in order to see and understand the various audio signal interconnections established by the ACU-1000. The size of the ACU-1000 components and their associated rack, the need to run cables to a fixed location, and the requirement of a separate personal computer to determine the interconnection status, render the ACU-1000 difficult, time consuming, and complex to move. As such, the ACU-1000 is considered a “fixed” solution, not a mobile or transportable solution.
Thus, while various types of interconnection systems for otherwise independent and incompatible audio communication networks have been proposed, there remains a need for alternative approaches.